


Running out of time

by nopesther



Series: The Umbrella Whisperings [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben And Five Just Want To Hug, Gen, Multi, Other, Rarepair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2019-11-17 17:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18103103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nopesther/pseuds/nopesther
Summary: “Ben, show me your abs.”“I’m sorry what?”Or when Klaus decides to make a photomontage to show his siblings how hot Number Six is. Things don't really go as planned - Five is running away.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah I said I would make another one, so here we are - It's almost 1am where I live and I honestly don't know what I did hahaha, please enjoy anyway!

**August 23rd, 2022**

 

“Ben, show me your abs.”

“I’m sorry what?”

Klaus gave a bored look to Ben, as if Ben’s surprise had not any reason to be.

“It’s for _science_.”

Ben frowned because, really, he had never seen Klaus being invested in stuff like science -although he had taken more and more interest in literature and art this last couple of months. And even if Klaus were actually interested in science, why would he need to see his abs?

“Why do you want to see my abs?”

“Because. They all keep asking about how you look. And I can’t draw properly -you looked more like a caterpillar playing the french horn than a decent man last time I tried. So I need to make a photomontage with pictures of famous people to show them. And this includes: your abs.”

“Because you’re gonna make a photomontage of me naked? Klaus what the fuck?”

If Ben had been more sensitive, he would probably have been offended by the way Klaus was casually trying to expose him to the rest of the family -but Ben had a good heart, and he knew that Klaus was just trying his best to do something right for everyone for once. So Ben laughed, took off his hoodie, and then his tee-shirt.

“Damn buddy.” Klaus let out without even thinking, “That’s a big of a scar you got there.”

“Yeah well, I wasn’t _The Horror_ for nothing.” Ben said with a smirk.

Klaus took a better look at Ben’s body: it wasn’t what he expected at all (but what did he expect exactly? Ben was a freaking ghost, he wasn’t even sure he could take off his clothes!) - Ben had abs, that was for sure, but he also had a hole right in the middle of his stomach, like a black hole, a bottomless pit from where only god knew what could show up -well, actually, Klaus knew, because Ben had freaking tentacles coming out of this hole, but still, that was something to see when the said tentacles weren’t out for the tea.

Klaus approached a finger, slowly, even though he was not expecting to be able to touch anything, Ben warned him: “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Klaus looked disappointed but restrained himself.

“Okay so… I’m gonna use Davy Jones, mixed with a black hole and Justin Min. That’s it. That’s you. You’re an asian black hole with tentacles.”

“Oh my God Klaus…” but before he knew it, Ben was bursting out of laughter, because Klaus’s look was way too serious, and the way he said it was too funny, and Ben just felt like laughing about it -Klaus noticed that Ben would not laugh like this often, which warmed his heart somehow, because Klaus was always happy to see Ben happy.

 

The funniest part was probably the fact that Klaus _actually did_ the photomontage. He made a real thing, he kept telling everyone that it was going to be the most accurate image of Ben they would ever see, and Ben was just dying of laughter next to him every single time. (And maybe Klaus kept the thing up because he liked to hear Ben laugh.)

And then the D-Day came and Klaus was in the living-room, smiling, ready to show his masterpiece of a photomontage, and they were all eager to see what he’d get them after all the things he said about it. They even had made the thing a family gathering - which Diego was not the only one to find stupid, but they all joined anyway.

Ben sat quietly behind Klaus to have a circular look on all his siblings facing him (or rather facing Klaus, but since he was behind him and that they could not see him anyway…); Diego had his arms crossed on his chest, he looked bored but obviously too curious to go away. Next to him, Vanya was standing, she looked far less nervous that she had ever been before the apocalypse -or rather, since she had stopped taking the pills Reginald Hargreeves had given her. She was smiling softly at Klaus, as if she were calmly judging his behaviour just like Grace would have usually done it; Allison seemed amused as well, smiling brightly and Ben thought that she really had the most beautiful smile of them all. Between her and Diego, Luther was trying to figure out why he had come in the first place, but he also enjoyed being around his family, so he did not complain too much about it -or maybe just when Diego teased him a little bit.

Then Ben saw Five, who had just arrived, looking as bored as always, a glass in his hand which was probably a margarita cocktail. He was the one who changed the most since the apocalypse, given that he was around thirteen years old at the time (well, at least his body was), and that his normal growth made him look more like a sixteen years old boy now. Still, Ben thought he looked cute, grumpy, but cute. Five had eventually given up on the uniform of the academy when the shirt started to be too tight around his throat, and Vanya had offered him some brand new clothes (a new shirt, but also some more casual clothes that he would be reticent to wear at first, but the look Vanya had given him when he had complained about it had made him change his mind at last).

Ben was still observing him when Klaus started to talk.

“Listen up guys, pay close attention because what you’re about to see is a lifetime work!”

Ben focused on Klaus. He was smiling proudly, ready to show everyone his _amazing_ photomontage he had put so much effort into. Ben could not wait to see it as well (Klaus had hidden it from him because he wanted him to have the surprise too), but most importantly, Ben could not wait to see his siblings’ reaction. Therefore he did as asked: he paid close attention.

“Here he comes! Our lord and savior: Ben Hargreeves!”

 

When Klaus showed them the beautiful picture of Davy Jones with actor Justin Min’s face photoshopped on his face and a black hole photoshopped in the middle of his body, with a quote _“Fear me for I’ll bring death upon y’all”_ in comic sans ms -probably the worst montage anyone ever saw in their life- the Umbrella Academy’s reaction was summed up in one sentence, coming from Diego.

“What the fuck?”

 

The next reaction was a burst of laughter like they never heard before. A loud, ringing laugh, from the bottom of a heart, a laugh they had not heard in _years_.

“Oh my God…” whispered Allison, eyes wide open. “ _Ben_?”

Ben stopped laughing right away, sitting straight up at the sound of his name, trying to wipe out the little tears that had appeared at the corner of his eyes. All his siblings were looking at him, except Klaus, who was looking at them. Ben froze.

There was a silence.

Ben was about to check behind him if they were not looking at something else through his transparent self, but Klaus spoke up before he could.

“Told ya I’d show you how he looks.”

Klaus was smiling proudly this time, still handling his photomontage.

“You gotta be kidding me.” Luther said, and suddenly, they all realized what was happening.

“ _Holy shit_ Ben?!”

Ben smiled softly.

“Hi guys… it’s been some time.”

Before Ben could realize it, the whole family was around him. “Is it really you?” Vanya asked softly, her eyes bright and almost tearful, Diego took her by the shoulders. “Of course it’s him, don’t tell me you forgot about his stupid panini head.” “Hey!” Ben wanted to seem offended, but he really couldn’t, not when they were all looking at him like they were seeing a ghost (which was the case), but a ghost they’d been waiting for for years now. Honestly, it had taken time for them to admit that Klaus was actually talking to him sometimes, that Ben was present among them - but now seeing him? That was a lot more to accept.

Except that they were The Umbrella _freaking_ Academy and that they probably had seen worst in their lives than the ghost of their dead brother (as Diego would say sometimes).

  


“So… you definitely look like this guy.” Allison said while pointing at the photomontage Klaus was still handling. “Except that he doesn’t have the tentacles there but more like… down there.” corrected Diego with a timid look at Ben’s stomach.

“So what’s with the black hole then?” Vanya asked, and Ben shrugged because he didn’t really want to get into the details, but of course Klaus _had to_. “It’s his abs.”

“Damn it Klaus.”

“What? It’s true, you showed me!”

“You showed him your abs?” Luther asked with a kind of disgusted look on his face that Ben would have taken the wrong way if Allison had not added: “Oh my god Luther, there is nothing wrong about abs.” “Well! I don’t know! I need a context!” “Jesus, what are you thinking about exactly?” “Guys seriously, Ben is here and you want to argue about the fact that he showed his abs to Klaus?” Vanya shouted. “I kind of agree with her on this one.” Diego smirked. “Of course you always agree with her." Allison commented.

“First of all,” Luther started and Klaus sneered and glanced at Ben. “Here we go again.” But Ben was too happy to be there, with them, and to actually interact with them to be annoyed by their little fights. On the contrary, he enjoyed it like he never did before, because he was part of it, because he could add his opinion to it -and Klaus saw it, and it made him happy.

 

It took a few more minutes for Ben to notice that Five had disappeared. He didn’t even see when -the boy was just not with them anymore. Ben looked around, looking for him, and when Klaus noticed it, he tapped on his shoulder. Ben turned to him to see him point the corridor. “You’ve got little time, mate, don’t waste it.” Klaus said with a smirk before shouting at Diego that he had “never been to an Australian graveyard before so shut your mouth!” “Oh yeah because you’ve been?”

Ben was already out of the room when Klaus answered.

 

It didn’t take much time for Ben to find him: Five was his usual self, making coffee in the kitchen as he always did when he wanted to escape some annoying situation -except that he looked rather upset this time, and that he had just mixed the rest of his cocktail with his coffee.

“Five?” Ben called, and honestly he would not have said anything if he had knew that Five was going to jump out of his chair like this. “For fuck sakes Ben, you scared the shit out of me!” Five shouted, and Ben smiled at the sight of his surprised look, the one he also had the first time Ben had manifested to him by touching his shoulders from behind (Five had been so scared he had space-jumped on the roof of the building, in the tree, stuck -it was more than one year ago but it still made Ben laugh a lot.)

“Why’d you left?” Ben asked. “I thought you would be happy to see me-”

“You mean this disgusting photoshopped thing Klaus made? It really didn’t do you any justice.” Five answered without looking at him.

This time, Ben _was_ offended. He didn’t say anything for a few minutes, but Five was too focused on his coffee-cocktail to notice. Ben thought about the time left, how long could he enjoy the fact of being seen? Probably not long. He didn’t even know why it happened, but he was not one to spoil this opportunity on something as stupid as his feelings being hurt by a grumpy arrogant old man going through puberty all over again. Ben sighed. “Okay well. I guess if you don’t care, I don’t need to stay here any longer-”

“Wait!”

Ben didn’t see him teleport. Five was right in front of him within a blink. Ben did blink.

Five wasn’t taller than him yet, but he wasn’t the short little thirteen years old boy of the apocalypse either. He was probably never going to be taller than him, Ben thought, but this fact made him smile. Five saw him and frowned.

“I bet you’re thinking about my height.”

“Nah, I would never do that.” Ben answered with a smirk.

“Fuck off Six.” Five said before turning his back on Ben to go back to his coffee -but this time, Ben didn’t let him. He caught his wrist without even thinking about it and-

And that was really different from what he was used to. Ben realized it was the first time he’d touch someone while being completely manifested and seen. And that someone was not Klaus, nor Vanya.

 _It was Five_.

They looked at each other. Ben didn’t exactly know how long, it felt like hours but probably only lasted a few seconds. He was still holding his wrist, firmly, not even thinking about letting it go, not really thinking about anything else than the fact that after _all this time_ , he was _finally_ holding Five for real, and most importantly, that Five could _see him_.

“I do care.” Five said at long last. “It’s just weird.”

Ben let go of his wrist. Something ached in his chest. Five wouldn’t look at him.

“I just… I’m sorry Ben. I truly am...”

And Ben waited for the “but” that would come along, the “but” he was expecting yet was so unwanted. The word that would make him feel bitter and angry and upset, yet necessary for him to understand that it couldn’t be some other way. What did he except? He was _just a ghost_. He was _dead_. And this situation was only a surprising combination of factors. And it wasn’t Five’s fault.

Ben was about to let go and go back to the living room, where the others stayed and probably started to ask why he had disappeared (even though it would have been quiet natural, ironically for him).

But he didn’t.

Because Five was holding him. Five was holding his ghostly dead body, holding it tight against his own, warm, living, vivid one.

And it felt _good_.

“I just miss you so much.”

Ben closed his eyes, held tighter, living each second of this embrace as if it was the last, when, really, it was more like the first one he ever had. The first one he ever shared with Five since the boy had disappeared. Since they held each other at night, when they were twelve and Ben was having nightmares about the things coming out of his stomach, when Five was reassuring him and telling him that it was okay to be scared -however this time, Ben felt like being the one who was reassuring Five.

“I know.” Ben said. “I miss you too.” He paused. “I’m sorry.”

  


When Vanya entered the kitchen, she noticed that something was wrong. “Five? Are you okay?” she asked to the boy who was peacefully drinking his cup of coffee, while reading the newspaper. He looked at her and smiled -but contrary to the usual, it wasn’t a sarcastic smile, nor a contemptuous one. It was just.. simple, or maybe even _sad_.

“I’m fine, why’d you ask?” Five answered, his eyes already going back to the article he was reading -and Vanya would not notice how red they were.

“I just… have you seen Ben? He disappeared just like this when we were talking.”

“Well, he’s a ghost isn’t he? You can’t expect him to be seen all the time.”

Vanya sighed, but he was right. “Too bad he could not make it longer.” She said, and she seemed really disappointed.

“Yup, too bad indeed.”

Five took a sip of his coffee, and kept reading.

Vanya left the kitchen.

Five rubbed his eyes and sniffed. He probably needed another coffee - or another margarita?


	2. The Picture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Picture

When Klaus showed them the beautiful picture of Davy Jones with actor Justin Min’s face photoshopped on his face and a black hole photoshopped in the middle of his body, with a quote _“Fear me for I’ll bring death upon y’all”_ in comic sans ms -probably the worst montage anyone ever saw in their life- the Umbrella Academy’s reaction was summed up in one sentence, coming from Diego.

“What the fuck?”

 

**Thanks to @aspeningoo on tumblr for this amazing picture we all needed in our lives.**

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, told you I tried to make something cute and then my hand slipped (AGAIN) and here I am crying over both of them because I think I like that somehow (I beg you to send help).  
> Also for the record :  
> \- all the drabbles will be dated so that you can find what happens when  
> \- this is my canon idea of Ben 's appearence? I honestly have no idea what it would look like otherwise haha  
> \- if y'all want to do this amazing photomontage go ahead because this shit is too funny khbkzg EDIT: SOMEONE ACTUALLY DID IT LMAO you can take a look at this glorious mess on chapter 2, this is amazing I swear  
> \- I do not follow the comic book series here as Five is actually growing up whereas in the comic it is specified that he will remain 13 yo for ever
> 
> Thank you for reading, leave a comment to tell me if you enjoyed as much as I cried over this :D


End file.
